An ab initio theoretical study of electronic structure and properties of 2'-deoxyguanosine in gas phase and aqueous media

Molecular geometries of two structural forms of 2'-deoxyguanosine (keto-N9R and keto-N7R, R = the sugar moiety) considering both the C2'-endo and C3'-endo conformations of the sugar ring and those of the complexes of these species with two water molecules each were optimized employing the ab initio RHF procedure. A mixed basis set consisting of the 6-311+G* basis set for the nitrogen atom of the amino group and the 4-31G basis set for all the other atoms was used. The RHF calculations were followed by correlation correction of the total energy at the MP2 level. Both the structural forms of 2'-deoxyguanosine were solvated using the polarized continuum model (PCM) of the self-consistent reaction field (SCRF) theory and the corresponding RHF optimized geometries at the RHF and MP2 levels. Geometry optimization was also performed in aqueous media using the Onsager model at the RHF level using the above-mentioned mixed basis set, and subsequently, using the reoptimized geometries, single-point MP2 calculations were performed. It is found that both the keto-N9R and keto-N7R forms of 2'-deoxyguanosine as well as their complexes with two water molecules each would occur, particularly at the water-air interface. Though the normal Watson-Crick-type base pairing would not be possible with the keto-N7R form of 2'-deoxyguanosine(G*), two other (G*-C and G*-T) base pairing schemes may occur with this form of the nucleoside, which may cause mutation. The present calculated geometry of the keto-N9R form of the anti-conformation of 2'-deoxyguanosine including the dihedral angle chi(CN) agree satisfactorily with the available crystallographic results. The present results also agree satisfactorily with those obtained by other authors earlier for the keto-N9R form of 2'-deoxyguanosine using B3LYP and MP2 methods employing the 6-31G* basis set. Using transition state calculations, it is shown that tautomerism of guanine and other similar molecules where the tautomers would coexist would be facilitated by the occurrence of the H(+) and OH(-) fragments of water molecules. Further, this coexistence of the two tautomers appears to make the C8 carbon atom located between the N7 and N9 nitrogen atoms susceptible to attack by the OH(-) group. Thus, an explanation is obtained for the efficient formation of the reaction product 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine, which serves as a biomarker for oxidative damage to DNA in biological systems.     

An ab initio study of electronic structure and spectra of 8-bromoguanine: a comparative study with guanine.

Ground state geometries of the four tautomeric forms keto-N9H, keto-N7H, enol-N9H and enol-N7H of 8-bromoguanine (8BG) were optimized using the ab initio RHF procedure employing a mixed basis set consisting of the 6-311 + G* basis set for the nitrogen atom of the amino group and the bromine atom, and the 4-31G basis set for all other atoms. These calculations were followed by correlation correction of the total energy at the MP2 level using the same basis set. The different tautomeric forms of 8BG in the ground state were solvated using the isodensity surface polarized continuum model (IPCM) of the SCRF theory both at the RHF and MP2 levels. Excited states were generated employing configuration interaction among singly excited configurations (CIS) obtained using a limited window of filled and empty molecular orbitals. Formation of hydrogen-bonded complexes between 8BG and three water molecules in the ground and excited states was considered in order to account for solvent effects approximately. Excited state geometry was optimized in each case for the lowest singlet excited state which was found to be of pi-pi* type. Vibrational frequency analysis was performed in order to ensure that the stationary points located on the potential energy surfaces by geometry optimization were minima. It is found that 8BG would occur in the ground state dominantly in the keto-N7H form both at the aqueous solution-air interface and inside the bulk liquid. The observed absorption and fluorescence spectra of 8BG can be explained satisfactorily considering only the keto-N7H form of the molecule. The enol tautomers of 8BG do not appear to be important from the point of view of ground state properties or electronic spectra. The observed differences between the behaviors of guanine and 8BG can be easily explained on the basis of the results obtained.     

Correlated ab initio study of nucleic acid bases and their tautomers in the gas phase,in a microhydrated environment and in aqueous solution. guanine: surprising stabilization of rare tautomers in aqueous solution

Altogether eight keto and enol tautomers of guanine were studied theoretically in the gas phase, in a microhydrated environment (1 and 2 water molecules) and in bulk water. The structures of isolated, as well as mono- and dihydrated tautomers were determined by means of the RI-MP2 method using the extended TZVPP (5s3p2d1f/3s2p1d) basis set. The relative energies of isolated tautomers included the correction to higher correlation energy terms evaluated at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVDZ level. The relative enthalpies at 0 K and relative free energies at 298 K were based on the above-mentioned relative energies and zero-point vibration energies, temperature-dependent enthalpy terms and entropies evaluated at the MP2/6-31G level. The keto form having hydrogen atom at N7 is the global minimum while the canonical form having hydrogen atom at N9 represents the first local minimum at all theoretical levels in vacuo and in the presence of 1 and 2 water molecules. All three unusual rare tautomers having hydrogens at N3 and N7, at N3 and N9, and also at N9 and N7 are systematically considerably less stable and can be hardly detected in the gas phase. The theoretical predictions fully agree with existing theoretical as well as experimental results. The effect of bulk solvent on the relative stability of guanine tautomers was studied by self-consistent reaction field and molecular dynamics free energy calculations using the thermodynamic integration method. Bulk solvent, surprisingly, strongly favored these three rare tautomers over all remaining low-energy tautomers and probably only these forms can exist in water phase. The global minimum (tautomer with hydrogens at N3 and N7) is by 13 kcal/mol more stable than the canonical form (3rd local minimum). Addition of one or two water molecules does not change the relative stability order of isolated guanine tautomers but the respective trend clearly supports the surprising stabilization of three rare forms.     

An ab initio study of excited states of guanine in the gas phase and aqueous media: Electronic transitions and mechanism of spectral oscillations

Ground state geometries of the four tautomeric forms keto‐N9H, keto‐N7H, enol‐N9H, and enol‐N7H of guanine were optimized in the gas phase at the RHF level using a mixed basis set consisting of the 4‐31G basis set for all the atoms except the nitrogen atom of the amino group for which the 6‐311+G* basis set was used. These calculations were also extended to hydrogen‐bonded complexes of three water molecules with each of the keto‐N9H (G9‐3W) and keto‐N7H (G7‐3W) forms of guanine. Relative stabilities of the four above‐mentioned tautomers of guanine as well as those of G9‐3W and G7‐3W complexes in the ground state in the gas phase were studied employing the MP2 correlation correction. In aqueous solution, relative stabilities of these systems were studied using the MP2 correlation correction and polarized continuum model (PCM) or the isodensity surface polarized continuum model (IPCM) of the self‐consistent reaction field (SCRF) theory. Geometry optimization in the gas phase at the RHF level using the 6‐31+G* basis set for all atoms and the solvation calculations in water at the MP2 level using the same basis set were also carried out for the nonplanar keto‐N9H and keto‐N7H forms of guanine. Thus, it is shown that among the different tautomers of guanine, the keto‐N7H form is most stable in the gas phase, while the keto‐N9H form is most stable in aqueous solution. It appears that both the keto‐N9H and keto‐N7H forms of guanine would be present in the ground state, particularly near the aqueous solution–air interface. Vertical excitation and excited state geometry optimization calculations were performed using configuration interaction involving single electron excitation (CIS). It is found that the absorption spectrum of guanine would arise mainly due to its keto‐N9H form but the keto‐N7H form of the same would also make some contribution to it. The enol‐N9H and enol‐N7H forms of the molecule are not expected to occur in appreciable abundance in the gas phase or aqueous media. The normal fluorescence spectrum of guanine in aqueous solution with a peak near 332 nm seems to originate from the lowest singlet excited state of the keto‐N7H form of the molecule while the fluorescence of oxygen‐rich aqueous solutions of guanine with a peak near 450 nm appears to originate from the lowest singlet excited state of the keto‐N9H form of the molecule. The origin of the slow damped spectral oscillation observed in the absorption spectrum of guanine has been explained. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 21: 826–846, 2000     

Bond energies and attachments sites of sodium and potassium cations to DNA and RNA nucleic acid bases in the gas phase

Gas-phase metal affinities of DNA and RNA bases for the Na(+) and K(+) ions were determined at density functional level employing the hybrid B3LYP exchange correlation potential in connection with the 6-311+G(2df,2p) basis set. All the molecular complexes, obtained by the interaction between several low-lying tautomers of nucleic acid bases and the alkali ions on the different binding sites, were considered. Structural features of the sodium and potassium complexes were found to be similar except in some uracil and thymine compounds in which the tendency of potassium ion toward monocoordination appeared evident. B3LYP bond energies for both metal ions were in agreement with the available experimental results in the cases of uracil and thymine for which the most stable complex was obtained starting from the most stable tautomer of the free nucleic acid base. For adenine, although the interaction of the ions with the most stable free tautomer generated the least stable molecular complex, the best agreement with experiment was found in just this case. For the remaining cytosine and guanine bases, our calculations indicated that the metal ion affinity value closest to experiment should be determined taking into account the role played by the different tautomers of the free bases with similar energy and all the possible complexes obtained by them.     

Ab initio studies of aspartic acid conformers in gas phase and in solution

Systematic and extensive conformational searches of aspartic acid in gas phase and in solution have been performed. For the gaseous aspartic acid, a total of 1296 trial canonical structures and 216 trial zwitterionic structures were generated by allowing for all combinations of internal single-bond rotamers. All the trial structures were optimized at the B3LYP/6-311G* level and then subjected to further optimization at the B3LYP/6-311++G** level. A total of 139 canonical conformers were found, but no stable zwitterionic structure was found. The rotational constants, dipole moments, zero-point vibrational energies, harmonic frequencies, and vertical ionization energies of the canonical conformers were determined. Single-point energies were also calculated at the MP2/6-311++G** and CCSD/6-311++G** levels. The equilibrium distributions of the gaseous conformers at various temperatures were calculated. The proton affinity and gas phase basicity were calculated and the results are in excellent agreement with the experiments. The conformations in the solution were studied with different solvation models. The 216 trial zwitterionic structures were first optimized at the B3LYP/6-311G* level using the Onsager self-consistent reaction field model (SCRF) and then optimized at the B3LYP/6-311++G** level using the conductorlike polarized continuum model (CPCM) SCRF theory. A total of 22 zwitterions conformers were found. The gaseous canonical conformers were combined with the CPCM model and optimized at the B3LYP/6-311++G** level. The solvated zwitterionic and canonical structures were further examined by the discrete/SCRF model with one and two water molecules. The incremental solvation of the canonical and zwitterionic structures with up to six water molecules in gas phase was systematically examined. The studies show that combining aspartic acid with at least six water molecules in the gas phase or two water molecules and a SCRF solution model is required to provide qualitatively correct results in the solution.     

可乐定分子构象异构和互变异构的理论研究

采用HF/6-31G*方法, 对氨基型和亚胺型可乐定中性分子以及质子化的可乐定分子进行了构象分析. 之后采用B3LYP/6-31G**方法对处于势能面上的能量极小构象异构体进行全自由度几何优化和频率分析. Onsager反应场溶剂模型用于水相的计算. 结果表明, 在气相和水相中可乐定中性分子主要以亚胺型存在, 这同已有实验结果一致. 进一步, 寻找构象异构化过渡态和氨基型亚胺型互变异构化过渡态, 探讨质子化和水溶剂化效应对异构化过程的几何结构和能量的影响. 为了考察氯苯的共轭效应对可乐定互变异构体稳定性的影响, 在B3LYP/6-31G**水平上, 研究了2-氨基-2-咪唑啉的互变异构化反应机理.     

Tautomerism and infrared spectra of 2-thiopurine: an experimental matrix isolation and theoretical ab initio and density functional theory study

Infrared spectra of 2-thiopurine (2-mercaptopurine, 2-purinethiol ) isolated in low-temperature Ar and N2 matrixes are reported. These spectra indicate that the compound adopts exclusively the thiol N9H tautomeric form. The theoretical calculations of relative energies of 2-thiopurine tautomers have been carried out at the MP4(SDTQ)//HF level using the 6-31G(d,p) basis set. The thiol N9H tautomer was predicted to be the most stable of all isomers of 2-thiopurine. The infrared spectra of the tautomers of 2-thiopurine have been calculated at the DFT(B3LYP)/6-31G(d,p) level. Good agreement between the experimental spectra and the spectra calculated for thiol N9H tautomer supported the identification of the dominant tautomer. It has also allowed for the reliable assignment of the bands observed in the experimental IR spectrum.     

金属离子与腺嘌呤异构体复合物的稳定性

在B3LYP/6-311++G**//6-31+G*基组水平上结合PCM模型系统的优化了气相和液相环境中14种腺嘌呤异构体与四种金属离子(Na+,K+,Mg2+,Ca2+)形成的132个稳定复合物。通过能量对比,得到了所有复合物异构体在气液两相中的稳定性顺序及不同金属离子与同一异构体形成的复合物的能量排序,首次给出了液相中这些不同金属离子复合物的最稳定结构。结果发现溶剂效应导致了液相中的复合物稳定性顺序与气相中的相比发生了很大变化;同一异构体与不同金属离子形成的复合物其稳定性在排序中也变化很大。对于这些变化,本文分别从金属离子与腺嘌呤的复合物在气相中的结合能(EBE)及在液相中的溶质溶剂相互作用能(Epol)能等方面进行了系统的阐述     

2,6-二巯基嘌呤互变异构体热力学稳定性的密度泛函理论研究

利用密度泛函(DFT)B3LYP/6-311G(d,p)方法,水相计算采用自洽反应场(SCRF)中的Onsager模型,对气相和水相中可能存在的13种2,6-二巯基嘌呤互变异构体进行了全优化,并计算了各异构体的热力学参数、偶极矩及原子净电荷。计算结果表明,不论是气相还是水相,二硫酮DTP(1,3,7)是最稳定的异构体。溶剂化效应使各异构体的稳定性均增强,偶极矩大者其稳定性显著增大。溶剂化吉布斯自由能与异构体在两相中偶极矩之差存在相关性。二硫酮DTP(1,3,7)在水相中与致癌物BPDE进行亲核取代反应时,二硫酮DTP(1,3,7)中的S10原子优先进攻亲电试剂BPDE.     

Valence and dipole-bound anions of the most stable tautomers of guanine

Anionic states of guanine, which is the only nucleic acid base of which the anions have not yet been studied in either photoelectron spectroscopic (PES) or Rydberg electron transfer (RET) experiments, have been characterized for the four most stable tautomers of neutral guanine using a broad spectrum of electronic structure methods from the density functional theory, with the B3LYP exchange-correlation functional, to the coupled-cluster method, with single, double, and perturbative triple excitations. Both valence and dipole-bound anionic states were addressed. We identified some of the difficulties facing future PES or RET experiments on the anion of guanine. Even if guanine is successfully transferred to the gas phase without thermal decomposition, it is critical to have the canonical amino-oxo (G) and both amino-hydroxy (GH and GHN7H) tautomers in the beam, not only the most stable, a noncanonical, amino-oxo tautomer (GN7H), as the latter does not support an adiabatically bound anionic state. We also suggested a scheme for enrichment of gas-phase guanine with the canonical tautomer, which is not the most stable in the gas phase, but which is of main interest due to its biological relevance. The tautomers G, GN7H, and GHN7H support vertically bound valence anionic states with the CCSD(T) value of vertical detachment energy of +0.58, +0.21, and +0.39 eV, respectively. These anionic states are, however, adiabatically unbound and thus metastable. The vertical electronic stability of these valence anionic states is accompanied by serious "buckling" of the molecular skeleton. The G and GHN7H tautomers support dipole-bound states with the CCSD(T) values of adiabatic electron affinity of 65 and 36 meV, respectively. A contribution from higher-than-second-order correlation terms represents, respectively, 48 and 68% of the total vertical electron detachment energy determined at the CCSD(T) level.     

Conformation and tautomerism of the cimetidine molecule: a theoretical study

The cimetidine molecule conformation and tautomer stability was studied at the ab initio HF/6-31G** level and for single point energies at the MP2/6-31G** level. The most stable N3-H cimetidine tautomer was found to be more stable than the most stable N1-H tautomer by ca. 3.7 and 5.0 kcal/mol, at the HF/6-31G** and MP2/6-31G**//HF/6-31G** level, respectively. At the HF/6-31G** level, the most stable N3-H and 1-H forms are stabilized by the intramolecular N3′-H?N1 hydrogen bond and N1-H?N4′, respectively. However, when the correlation effects are included at the MP2/6-31G**//HF/6-31G** level, the most stable N3-H and N1-H tautomers appeared to be folded forms without hydrogen bonds.     

Microhydration of the guanine-cytosine (GC) base pair in the neutral and anionic radical states: a density functional study

A density functional study of the effects of microhydration on the guanine-cytosine (GC) base pair and its anion radical is presented. Geometries of the GC base pair in the presence of 6 and 11 water molecules were fully optimized in the neutral (GC-nH2O) and anion radical [(GC-nH2O)*-] (n = 6 and 11) states using the B3LYP method and the 6-31+G** basis set. Further, vibrational frequency analysis at the same level of theory (B3LYP/6-31+G**) was also performed to ensure the existence of local minima in these hydrated structures. It was found that water molecules surrounding the GC base pair have significant effects on the geometry of the GC base pair and promote nonplanarity in the GC base pair. The calculated structures were found to be in good agreement with those observed experimentally and obtained in molecular dynamics (MD) simulation studies. The water molecules in neutral GC-nH2O complexes lie near the ring plane of the GC base pair where they undergo hydrogen bonding with both GC and each other. However, in the GC anion radical complexes (GC-nH2O, n = 6, 11), the water molecules are displaced substantially from the GC ring plane. For GC-11H2O*-, a water molecule is hydrogen-bonded with the C6 atom of the cytosine base. We found that the hydration shell initially destabilizes the GC base pair toward electron capture as a transient anion. Energetically unstable diffuse states in the hydration shell are suggested to provide an intermediate state for the excess electron before molecular reorganization of the water molecules and the base pair results in a stable anion formation. The singly occupied molecular orbital (SOMO) in the anion radical complexes clearly shows that an excess electron localizes into a pi orbital of cytosine. The zero-point-energy (ZPE-) corrected adiabatic electron affinities (AEAs) of the GC-6H2O and GC-11H2O complexes, at the B3LYP/6-31+G** level of theory, were found to be 0.74 and 0.95 eV, respectively. However, the incorporation of bulk water as a solvent using the polarized continuum model (PCM) increases the EAs of these complexes to 1.77 eV.     

An investigation of keto–enol tautomerism in N-vinyl-2-, and 3-pyrrolidinones using ab initio and density functional theory calculations

We investigated the protomeric tautomerism of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NV2P) and N-vinyl-3-pyrrolidinone (NV3P) molecules, and considered the three neutral tautomers for NV2P (1a, 1b, 1c) and the five for NV3P (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e). Full geometry optimizations were carried out at the HF/6-31G**, HF/6-31+G** and B3LYP/6-31+G** levels in the gas phase and in water. Additionally, single-point MP2/6-31+G** calculations were performed on the HF/6-31+G** optimized geometries. The tautomerization processes in water (=78.54) were studied using the self-consistent reaction field theory. According to our estimations, the tautomerization of NV2P and NV3P molecules are not strongly influenced by the polar solvents, the improvement of the basis set quality and the electron correlation effects in the gas phase and in water. The calculated relative free energies (ΔG) predict that 1a and 2a are the energetically preferred tautomers in the gas phase and in water.     

An ab initio study of water clusters in gas phase and bulk aqueous media: (H2O)n,n=1–12

Geometries of several clusters of water molecules including single minimum energy structures of n‐mers (n=1–5), several hexamers and two structures of each of heptamer to decamer derived from hexamer cage and hexamer prism were optimized. One structural form of each of 11‐mer and 12‐mer were also studied. The geometry optimization calculations were performed at the RHF/6‐311G* level for all the cases and at the MP2/6‐311++G** level for some selected cases. The optimized cluster geometries were used to calculate total energies of the clusters in gas phase employing the B3LYP density functional method and the 6‐311G* basis set. Frequency analysis was carried out in all the cases to ensure that the optimized geometries corresponded to total energy minima. Zero‐point and thermal free energy corrections were applied for comparison of energies of certain hexamers. The optimized cluster geometries were used to solvate the clusters in bulk water using the polarized continuum model (PCM) of the self‐consistent reaction field (SCRF) theory, the 6‐311G* basis set, and the B3LYP density functional method. For the cases for which MP2/6‐311++G** geometry optimization was performed, solvation calculations in water were also carried out using the B3LYP density functional method, the 6‐311++G** basis set, and the PCM model of SCRF theory, besides the corresponding gas‐phase calculations. It is found that the cage form of water hexamer cluster is most stable in gas phase among the different hexamers, which is in agreement with the earlier theoretical and experimental results. Further, use of a newly defined relative population index (RPI) in terms of successive total energy differences per water molecule for different cluster sizes suggests that stabilities of trimers, hexamers, and nonamers in gas phase and those of hexamers and nonamers in bulk water would be favored while those of pentamer and decamer in both the phases would be relatively disfavored. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 81: 90–104, 2001     

2-硫代黄嘌呤互变异构体的密度泛函理论计算

在密度泛函B3LYP/6-311G**水平上,对14种气相和水相中可能存在的2-硫代黄嘌呤互变异构体进行了几何构型全自由度优化,并计算出它们的总能量、焓、熵、吉布斯自由能.Onsager反应场溶剂模型用于水相的计算.计算结果表明,2-硫代黄嘌呤在气相和水相中主要以酮式结构形式存在,与已有实验结果一致.在气相和水相中,酮式结构—N(7)(H)均比酮式结构—N(9)(H)更稳定.2-硫代黄嘌呤互变异构的熵效应小,对互变异构平衡没有显著的影响,而焓变对互变异构却产生了主要的影响.水溶剂化自由能与异构体的气相偶极矩存在相关性.另外,较详细地考察了2-硫代黄嘌呤与6-硫代黄嘌呤的相对稳定性.     

Transitions to high tautomeric states can be induced in adenine by interactions with carboxylate and sodium ions: DFT calculation data

Twelve triple complexes of nine adenine tautomers with carboxylate ion of acetic acid CH₃COO⁻ and sodium ion Na⁺ of the CH₃COO⁻:Ade:Na⁺ type were studied by the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p)//B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) quantum chemical method. It was established that three rare adenine tautomers generate more stable complexes than the ground state one. The B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) full optimization was applied to four most stable triple complexes in order to refine on their stability order. To evaluate contributions of each ligands for stabilization of these complexes, calculations of energies and dipole moments of respective binary complexes of the CH₃COO⁻:Ade and Ade:Na⁺ types were performed at the B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p) level of theory. At the same level, there were computed energies and dipole moments of isolated tautomers. Two of them, first calculated in this work, appeared to be zwitter-ions. Highly cooperative interplay of interactions of both ligands with adenine tautomers was observed in triple complexes. Preferable sites of coordination of Na⁺ with tautomers were ascertained. Biological importance of the results obtained is discussed.     

Theoretical study of the effect of water in the process of proton transfer of glycinamide

For the purpose of investigating the tautomerism from glycinamide (G) to glycinamidic acid (G*) induced by proton transfer, we carried out a study of structural interconversion of the two tautomers and the relative stabilizing influences of water during the tautomerization process. Throughout the study, we used density functional theory (DFT) calculations at the B3LYP/6-311++G** level of theory, also considering the correction functions, that is, the effect of basis set superposition error (BSSE). Totally, 42 geometries, including fourteen important transition states, were optimized, and their geometric parameters have also been discussed in detail. Water molecules were gradually put in three different regions in the vicinity of G and its tautomer G*. The calculation results indicate that water in two of these regions can protect G from tautomerizing to G*, while in another region, water can assist in the tautomerism; this reveals that water molecules have stabilization and mutagenicity effects for G simultaneously.     

Prototropic tautomerism and microsolvation in antitumor drug imexon: a DFT study

Density functional theory method, at the B3LYP/6–311+G(d, p) level has been used to explore the geometries, relative energies, and electronic properties of all hypothetically possible prototropic tautomers of imexon. The specific interactions of the tautomeric forms of imexon with one and two solvating water molecules have been investigated. The relative stability order of the complexes remains unchanged upon interaction with one water molecule. The addition of a second water molecule, however, stabilizes the oxo-amino form more than the oxo-imino structure. The bulk water environment has been simulated by a combination of microhydration and the conductor-like polarizable continuum model. The energy profile corresponding to the prototopic tautomerisms connecting oxo-imino form with oxo-amino, hydroxyl-amino, and one rare tautomer has been studied. We found that the tautomerism activation barriers are high enough as to conclude that only the oxo-imino tautomer should be found in the gas phase. Our results present clear evidence that microhydration with one and two solvating water molecules considerably lower these barriers by a concerted multiple proton transfer mechanism.

     

Hydration of DNA Bases and Compounds Containing Small Rings—A Model for Interactions of the Ricin Toxin A-Chain. A Theoretical Ab Initio Study

Ab initio quantum chemical calculations were performed for four neutral gas phase adenine and four pterin tautomers along with guanine and formycin bases. The water complexes of the lowest energy tautomers of these bases have been studied to mimic their interaction with the ricin toxin A chain (RTA). The water molecules create a full first hydration shell around the bases. Full geometry optimizations without any constraints on the planarity of these hydrated complexes were carried out at the HF/6-31G(d,p) level. Single point calculations were also performed at the correlated MP2/6-31G(d,p)//HF/6-31G(d,p) level of theory. Hydration energies were corrected for the basis set superposition error. Hydration energies of adenine and formycin are predicted to be lower (in magnitude) than those for the pterin and guanine. Due to these properties, two pterin tautomers can be considered as potentially useful inhibitors of RTA.